| In the wake of films like A Better Tomorrow and The Killer came many movies who wanted to capture the essence of a John Woo-movie and also make a quick buck at the same time. I don't think Return Engagement will be considered a classic but it does have some positive things worth mentioning.
After a bloody encounter with the italian maffia, Brother Lung (Alan Tang from Gun & Rose) is sentenced to a lengthly prison sentence in Canada.15 years later he is released and decides to go back to Hong Kong to find his daughter. He enlists the help of a teenager nicknamed Little Lung (May Lo from The Scorpion King). At the same time he and she gets into a conflict with the local triadgang. A conflict which escalates more and more each day...
Even if Wong Kar-Wai co wrote this script, you won't find much originality here. The whole movie bears quite an resemblance to the films of John Woo, in other words a lot of violent shootouts and a good dose of melodrama. The difference here is that director Joe Cheung (Flaming Brothers) is not quite as skilled in either department.
What about the positive aspects then? Well Alan Tang's performance is not too bad. He manages to handle the lackluster material with skill and creates a somewhat sympathetic and multi-layered character. The biggest surprise to me was May Lo. When she first enters the picture I feared that we were going to be stuck with an highly annoying teenage girl for the rest of the movie. But she is actually pretty good and she and her character developes rather nicely (considering the material) throughout the piece.
Simon Yam is one of my favourite actors but here he's not blessed with a great script, so his baddie role doesn't require much really. He is entertaining to watch though and it looks like he's having fun playing evil the way only Hong Kong gangsters can.
Contrary to what the cover suggests, Andy Lau only has about 20 minutes of screentime. But he's mostly in the movies highlights: the crazy and violent shootouts. It's not really the balletic kind of action choreography that John Woo does that's on display here, but it's still very entertaining. Fans of the heroic bloodshed-genre should be pleased after the final frame of the movie.
Return Engagement was made during an era I miss in Hong Kong filmmaking and I will consider it among the better John Woo-imitators. | 
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